Coming Out:How to Tell Your Best Friend You're Gay
by Demonsblade
Summary: [One shot] Remus is reluctant to tell James and Peter about his relationship with Sirius. But how long can they hide it after Remus shows up at breakfast with a love bite on his neck? SBRL slash


** Coming Out: How to Tell Your Best Friend That You're Gay**

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This is just a little story I've been working on to pass the time between installments of A Simple Reunion. The plot is tenuous at best and nonexistent at worst. This is just a fluff story done for fun. Enjoy. Any and all reviews (even flames) will be appreciated. I've never gotten a flame before…I'm curious.

Warning: SBRL (Sirius Black – Remus Lupin) SLASH

Disclaimer: I own it all! No, just kidding. Characters belong to JKR, but the story is mine.

* * *

"You're not going to cover it up, are you, Moony?" Sirius asked, embracing Remus from behind.

Remus stood in front of the mirror in the dormitory bathroom, Sirius's arms encircled around his waist and his face pressed into his hair. Both boys were naked except for the towels wrapped around their waists, their hair damp from a shower. Remus tapped his wand pensively on his jaw, contemplating the angry red mark on his neck—a souvenir of last night's events. He had been about to make the spot invisible with the same charm he used to hide his many scars.

"Everyone will see, Padfoot."

"That's the _point_, Rem." Sirius nibbled playfully on Remus's shoulder. "I want everyone to know that you're taken. I hate how that Ethel what's-her-name sidles up to you."

"You know, you're extremely possessive for someone who's an incurable flirt. Do you have any idea just how many girls are convinced they're in love with you?—And how many more want you to father their babies?" he added with a touch of amusement.

"And all in vain," Sirius sighed tragically, tracing his tongue up Remus's neck.

"You conceited peacock! Now I know where all the arrogance from James's slowly deflating head is going."

"Admit it—you love that about me." Sirius's voice faltered for the tiniest fraction of a second. "Don't you?"

"Of _course_, you dolt."

Sirius's arms tightened around his abdomen in response.

"And just what am I supposed to tell them when they ask who gave me this hideous mark?" Remus asked.

Soft kisses were placed on the back of his neck. "Tell them the truth."

Remus caught Sirius's eye in the mirror. "I can't, Padfoot. Not yet." Remus's voice was soft and apologetic. "I'm sorry. I'm just not ready."

"It's all right," Sirius replied, smiling reassuringly. "I mean it, Rem. We can tell everyone when you think you're ready. Okay?"

"Thanks."

Sirius hummed his assent and returned to kissing Remus's neck.

Silence, and then—

"I love you, Moony."

Remus's heart soared—before tumbling over itself in doubt. "Don't say it unless you mean it," Remus said, his voice high with disbelief.

Sirius turned Remus around and cupped his face in his hands, looking deeply into his eyes. "_I—love—you_," he repeated, giving each word the emphasis he thought it needed. Leaning down, he caught Remus's lips in a gentle but resolute kiss.

When they broke apart, Remus's face was slack with an expression of absolute joy. "I love you, too."

x-x-x-x-x

"What's that on your neck, Remus?" James asked. He and Peter sat across from Sirius and Remus in the Great Hall. Peter, like Sirius, was almost disappearing behind his massive plate of breakfast, but James and Remus had hardly touched their food.

James hadn't failed to notice that his two friends seemed to be very much out of it this morning. Sirius was concentrating almost _too much_ on his food—if that was possible. Remus kept staring randomly out of the large windows in the Hall, ignoring the clamor of students greeting each other for Saturday morning breakfast.

"Remus! What is the matter with you today?" James waved his hand in front of the boy's face.

He seemed to snap abruptly out of his trance. "James?" he asked, his eyes refocusing on his friend. "What's wrong, mate?"

"Haven't you been listening to _anything_ I've said in the past twenty minutes?"

"Sure I have."

"Fine, then. What was I talking about?"

"Lily Evans. What else?" said Remus knowingly, pouring syrup on his stack of pancakes.

"Lucky guess," James muttered. "So, are you going to answer my question?"

"What question?"

"What's that on your neck?"

Remus nearly dropped the pitcher of syrup. He looked away, blushing, and mumbled something in the direction of his knees.

"I didn't quite catch that, Remus."

"Bug bite," Remus said through clenched teeth.

Sirius snorted into his pudding. Peter looked up, confused at the sudden noise. James was shaking with silent laughter.

"Good gods, Remus. Don't tell me it's what I think it is."

"It's a bug bite," Remus said defensively.

"Oh, surely you don't think I don't know the difference between a bug bite and a love bite?"

Remus flushed a spectacular crimson and threw a reproachful glance at Sirius, who looked like he was trying his hardest to fight a grin off his face.

Muttering something about needing to finish Arithmancy homework, Remus stood and disappeared in the direction of the library.

"I wonder who Moony's lover is," said James as soon as Remus was out of earshot.

"That Hufflepuff—Ethel something-or-other—she's liked Remus since third year," said Peter, finally joining the conversation.

"Yeah, but Remus has better taste than that. What about the Ravenclaw prefect? Tori Gonei?"

"Tori's a bloke."

"Really, Wormtail?" James rolled his eyes. "I never noticed."

"I mean—Remus doesn't like blokes."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I don't know—it's just kind of gross, is all. Remus wouldn't do that…would he?"

"Why?" Sirius spoke up, fixing Peter with a piercing glare. "What's wrong with a man liking another man?"

Peter opened his mouth as if to reply, but nothing came out. He seemed to wither under the heat of Sirius's scowl.

"Nothing's wrong with it, Sirius. Wormtail here was just being an ass."

"Sorry," Peter mumbled. "Do you really think Remus is—you know—that he likes blokes?"

"Maybe," said James, dropping his voice. "He certainly seems to like them better than girls. When's the last time he ever said that a girl looked pretty? When's the last time he's ever acted _nervous_ around a girl—_any _girl? Compare that to the fact that Remus goes beet red and drops just about whatever he's holding whenever Tori Gonei gets within a ten-foot radius. You see why it seems suspicious."

"What?" Sirius asked, looking quite alarmed. "Remus likes Gonei?"

"Well, I'm not at all positive. But it certainly seems like it—Your mouth's hanging open, Padfoot."

Sirius hastily snapped his jaw shut, standing.

"Where are _you_ going off in such a hurry?"

"Huh? Oh, uh…I'm going to see if Remus needs any help with his homework." And with that, he stalked off without a second glance.

James watched after him a moment in bewilderment.

"But Sirius doesn't take Arithmancy," Peter said confusedly.

x-x-x-x-x

Sirius pulled Remus by the sleeve of his robe into the Invisibility section in the library, not releasing him until they were completely concealed behind the shelves of books.

"What's the matter, Padfoot?"

"Do you like Tori Gonei?" Sirius's voice was a little harsh, but Remus could clearly hear the poorly eclipsed pain in it.

"No! Oh, gods, Siri. I'd never do that to you. Okay…I _used_ to like him." Remus looked into Sirius's eyes, willing him to understand. "But it was just a silly crush. Not anything like what I feel for you. I _love_ you, Sirius. Don't ever doubt that."

Sirius looked away, a hint of a blush on his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Rem. I—I shouldn't have doubted you." He caught the boy's hands in his and gently raised them to his mouth. "Do you forgive me?"

Remus beamed. "I'll consider it—of _course_, Sirius. Don't give me that kicked puppy look. Now…since we're nice and _invisible_…" He let his voice trail off suggestively.

Sirius advanced on him, a smirk playing at his lips. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Perhaps."

Remus pulled Sirius by the collar into a fervent kiss—which quickly turned into a battle of the tongues. He entwined his hands into Sirius's hair, moaning at the back of his throat. Sirius slowly slipped his hands under his lover's shirt, tracing the outline of the scars that marked the boy's fragile body.

"You should know, Padfoot," gasped Remus when they both came up for air. "Wolves mate for life."

x-x-x-x-x

James stomped impatiently up to the boys' dormitory, Peter in tow. Sirius and Remus had been missing since breakfast and James was getting quite annoyed.

For the past few weeks, he had gotten the suspicion that his two friends were up to something. Remus and Sirius had always been good friends, with little or no secrets between them. But never before had a conversation between them just _stopped_ the second James or Peter walked in the room.

_They're hiding something_, James thought.

He entered the dormitory room and made straight for his bedside table, where he had hidden the Marauder's Map. It still wasn't completely perfected yet, but it would serve the purpose of finding the two missing Marauders.

James took out the map and unfolded it with care. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He gave the map a quick tap with his wand.

He and Peter watched the intricate lines weave the spider web of Hogwarts castle on the parchment. Together, they searched for their two friends.

"There." Peter pointed to two dots in a broom closet on the second floor—one dot marked _Remus Lupin_ and, right next to it, another miniscule speck entitled _Sirius Black_.

"What the _hell_ are they doing in a broom closet?"

"I don't know, Wormtail. But we're going to find out."

James ignored the little voice in his head that said impudently, _Maybe you don't _want_ to find out._

x-x-x-x-x

Remus hastily pulled on his shirt, trying his best not to elbow Sirius in the cramped closet.

"Oh, damn," Sirius cursed. "We're late for lunch."

"Are you saying you'd rather stuff your face than snog me in the janitorial storage?"

Sirius's response to that was a sloppy wet kiss on Remus's unsuspecting mouth—or at least, it was aimed at Remus's mouth. In the darkness of the closet, Sirius's lips instead connected with Remus's collarbone.

"Nice aim, Padders."

"Oh, shut it."

"I'd love to."

Remus pounced on Sirius, knocking him flat into the wall. Straddling his lover, Remus leaned close and captured Sirius's lips with his own, hands roaming over his bare torso. Sirius's agile fingers snaked their way into his shirt, drawing agonizingly slow circles around his nipples.

He felt an insistent pressure in his groin and thrusted forward into Sirius's hip, moaning in pleasure. Building up a steady rhythm, they rocked together, shivering with desire through the thick denim of their jeans.

Eventually, Sirius placed a hand on Remus's hip to stop him. Remus, breaking their kiss, looked quizzically at his lover. Sirius bit his lip to contain his want, his eyes clouded with lust.

"W—We shouldn't…not now…not yet." His voice was husky and indecisive.

"Why, Siri? I thought you wanted this."

"I do, but I know you'll regret it later. When we do it, I want it to be without reservations, without regrets."

Remus stooped down and gently pressed his lips to Sirius's.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"Less than I must have done to deserve _you_."

x-x-x-x-x

Remus clumsily followed a stumbling Sirius out of the closet—and stopped dead.

James and Peter stood right outside the door. The former was frozen in mid-motion from reaching out toward the door handle of the closet. James's looked like he was trying to decide between alarm at the state of his two friends and amusement at what he _thought_ they had been doing. His eyebrows had risen in shock, but the corner of his mouth was twitching. Peter's eyes were swelling to the size of Galleons and looked like they might pop out of his face at any moment.

Remus was suddenly acutely aware of his half-tucked shirt, which he now noticed—too late—was inside out. Sirius's hair was wildly escaping its ponytail. There was no denying their extremely disheveled condition, and Remus cursed himself for not noticing it earlier—even in the darkness of the closet.

"What were you two _doing_?" James breathed.

"We…were…uh…" Sirius cast around for a suitable explanation, but Remus beat him to it.

"We got in a fight."

All eyes turned to him. Sirius's eyebrows rose out of sight in surprise. It would have been painfully funny had Remus not been as nervous as he was.

"You were _fighting_?" James asked incredulously, mouth spasing in a half-hearted attempt to smile.

"Yeah…"

"What, duking it out? Physically?"

"Sirius kept interrogating me about Gonei—telling me what a bastard he was—and I just lost it." Remus was surprised at how easy it was to lie right through his teeth. Part of him desperately wanted to tell his friends. After all, they had accepted his being a werewolf without fuss. _But this is a much touchier issue_.

"He socked me in the jaw," said Sirius, catching on. He touched his mouth tenderly. "I think he cut my lip, too."

Remus tried not to blush. He had accidentally bit Sirius's bottom lip during their snog-fest.

James didn't look convinced. "You were brawling in a _broom closet_?"

"I was planning on stuffing Sirius in it, but he got the better of me and we both ended up in the closet."

Peter's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You were in there for an awfully long time."

"How do you know?" barked Sirius.

"We were…looking for you on the map." James looked slightly apologetic.

"Oh, well we got locked in there."

"It doesn't open from the inside, you see."

"You two seem appallingly friendly for blokes who just tried to knock the stuffing out of each other," said James. "You're even finishing each other's sentences. It's starting to creep me out."

"We…made up after a while. We were in the closet for a long time, and we decided to put it behind us."

"And besides, Sirius now owes me a favor…anything I ask."

James nearly cracked his neck whipping it around to face Remus. "A _favor_?" he sputtered, as if hardly able to believe it.

Sirius stared at James in confusion. It was a while before Remus understood what James had meant.

"No! Not _that_ kind of favor. I just meant that he has to help me with Potions homework or something."

"Which, if you forget, Moony, I do every day," Sirius reminded him.

"True…maybe I'll make you kiss Snivelly."

Sirius blanched, looking horrorstricken. Remus smirked and dropped his voice so only Sirius could hear. "Or just maybe I might ask for something a lot more…_sensual_."

He watched with amusement as Sirius blushed and grinned wickedly back at him.

x-x-x-x-x

James and Peter watched the silent exchange with expressions bordering on bewilderment—or, in Peter's case, hysteria. James had hardly been able to respond when they had found Sirius and Remus looking like they'd just…

_Oh, hell—I might as well admit it_, James told himself. _They look like they've just shagged to the Hills of Sin and back._

Somehow, the thought didn't make him uncomfortable—well, as long he kept his thoughts away from the details. It almost felt _right_, the two of them being together. There was a part of him that wondered why it hadn't happened sooner.

_Well, okay. I don't really know anything actually _happened_. They're certainly going to deny it at all lengths, it seems._

James debated on whether or not to confront them or let them tell him on their own. After a bit of arguing with himself, he decided on the latter course of action. He'd let them work it out. _They'll tell me in their own time…when they've come to grips with it._ He couldn't bring himself to break their little peace. _God knows how much we need that peace in times like these._

And as tempting as it was, James didn't think this was a good time to point out the new red mark on Sirius's neck—a blotch that was even bigger and more obvious than Remus's.

x-x-x-x-x

The Griffindor Common Room gradually darkened as the sun dipped below the horizon. Sirius was sprawled near the hearth, working on a foot-long essay. James, Peter, and Remus sat in comfortable armchairs by the crackling fire, reading in silence.

Autumn night had fallen by the time Remus stood up, claiming tiredness.

"I think I'm going to take a bath before bed," he said, stretching gracefully. "You don't mind if I don't wait up for you guys, right? I'm bloody bushed." With a hastily stifled yawn, he turned and exited up the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories.

James watched Sirius out of the corner of his eye. The boy stared at the departing Remus with impatience in his eyes, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. After a period of fifteen restless minutes in which Sirius wildly scrawled out a conclusion to his essay, he, too, left—presumably—for a shower and bed. James tried hard not to think about it too much. As much as he supported his friends, the thought of them upstairs—doing Lord knows what—was too much for him to handle at this point.

No, he would just read his Charms assignment…and keep Peter company until it was safe to venture upstairs.

x-x-x-x-x

"Remus?" Sirius asked, poking his head carefully into the dormitory. "You here?"

"Right here, Pads." Remus emerged from the bathroom dressed in cotton pajamas, his hair dripping.

"You didn't wait for me?" Sirius pouted.

"Well, you took a shower in the morning. And besides, this way we can get straight to the fun stuff." Remus grinned wickedly, crossing the length of the room and pulling Sirius in the direction of his bed.

"If you insist, Moony." Sirius scooped his lover up in his arms and dumped him unceremoniously on the bed. Remus squirmed, evading Sirius's attempts to kiss him.

"Not until you brush your teeth," said Remus, holding Sirius's face at arms length. "I won't appreciate you waking up with dragon breath in the morning."

"Fine!" Sirius huffed, grabbing his toiletry bag from his bedside table and stalking into the bathroom.

When he returned no more than three minutes later, Remus was leaning against the headboard, waiting with a smile. He had unbuttoned his shirt down to the navel, temptingly revealing a trim chest marked with thin scars.

"Ready to give me that favor?" Remus asked, whisking the hair out of his eyes with a simple fluid motion.

It was all Sirius could do to stop himself from assaulting the boy and shagging him senseless. Instead, with forced calm and a patience he could not have dreamed of possessing, he walked toward his lover, unbuttoning his own shirt and shrugging off the piece of fabric.

Sirius thought he would pass out from euphoria when their lips met. Pushing Remus down under him, Sirius ran callused hands under the boy's shirt, tugging it off and throwing it to the floor beside his own.

Remus nibbled lightly on his lower lip, tongue flitting along the edge. Sirius opened his mouth in a silent plea, pressing their bodies together, groin-to-groin. The heat of desire enveloped them, and they let their passion carry them over the edge.

Later, as they lay curled up under Remus's covers, they the unmistakable sounds of James and Peter emerging from the Common Room and readying for bed. Remus had pulled the covers closed on both Sirius's and Remus's beds, and topped it off with a charm so that those covers couldn't be pulled apart.

Remus pointed his wand at the curtains and muttered, "_Silencio_!"

Sirius panted, his body slowly cooling from the fever he had worked it into.

"See, Sirius? I told you. No reservations. No regrets."

"Well, technically it wasn't sex. If it was, you'd hardly be able to move."

"Oh? What makes you think _I'd_ be the incapacitated one?"

"Who would've thought it? Dominatrix Remus. It has a nice ring, don't you think?"

Remus slapped him playfully on the arm. "Just for that, I'm not returning the favor tomorrow."

Sirius pouted, scooting closer to Remus so that their faces were merely centimeters apart. "I'll be a good dog, I promise." And to support the statement, Sirius licked Remus's nose in a very dog-like manner.

Instead of swatting him away like Sirius had expected, Remus pulled him into a long, slow—and very _wet_—kiss.

x-x-x-x-x

"James, it's nearly noon. Don't you think we should wake those two up?" Peter asked, looking up from where he was lounging on his bed, reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_. "The curtains on both their beds are still closed. I'm worried."

James was lying on his stomach on his own bed, working on an essay for Transfiguration. He looked at the two curtained beds with suspicion growing inside him. It was like Sirius to sleep in late, but Remus was usually up at the most unholy hours of the morning.

Pushing himself up, James stood and made his way to Remus's bed. Peter followed.

"Argh! It's stuck!" James yelled, trying—and failing—to yank the curtains apart. "All right, that's it." He grabbed his wand from his bed and pointed it at the bed. Red sparks shot out of the end. The curtains sprang apart.

James froze. He felt the blood drain out of his face—and then rush back with a vengeance.

_Remus and Sirius…in bed…together…in their boxers._

His stagnant mind was slow to absorb the details. Sirius crawled on all fours over Remus; the duvet fell back to reveal both their torsos. Clothes lay haphazardly scattered at the foot of the bed. Remus's hands were frozen halfway inside Sirius's boxers. James noticed certain unmistakable aromas wafting from the sheets.

"Uh…hello, James…Peter," said Remus, his voice shaking from the obvious effort to control himself. He and Sirius stared at James; their eyes were wide with fright and their faces were steadily turning red.

"Hello Remus," James replied, trying to inject some nonchalant cheer into his voice. "Er…good morning."

"Good morning."

"We'll…er…be going now…" James turned to leave, grabbing Peter—who looked as if he was in danger of losing control of his bladder—and dragging him bodily to the door.

"Wait, James!"

James stopped in front of the door and tried to compose himself. He turned slowly, relaxing when he saw that his two friends had finally mustered up the decency to get into a not-so-compromising position and cover as much of their bodies with the duvet as possible.

"Yes, Remus?" James tried to smile—it felt painful even to him.

"Don't—don't you want an explanation?" asked Sirius.

James nodded cautiously. Peter was still ogling them from the doorway.

"We…we're gay," Sirius said unnecessarily. "And we're together…as a couple, that is."

"I—I see."

"Are you okay with this?"

Under the shock, James was somewhat moved that his friends cared about his approval. "Yeah. It's going to take some getting used to, but it's all good."

Sirius and Remus beamed, simultaneously letting out the breath they had been holding.

"You know, you could've told me before," James said with an edge of annoyance.

"You—you knew?" asked Remus.

"I guessed."

"Sorry, James. It's my fault. Sirius here wanted to tell you, but I was the one that held him back. I was scared to death of losing your friendship. I guess I was worried for no reason."

"Damn right!"

Remus chuckled quietly.

"So how…long…has this been…y'know…"

"A while now. Two months, actually."

"_Two months_?"

"Yeah." Remus looked extremely apologetic. Sirius put his arm around the boy and drew him close.

"Uh…maybe we should go." James turned to leave again. "Peter looks like he's going to have a heart attack."

"Aw, come on, James," called Sirius. "Don't you want to see me give Moony here a blowjob?"

James all but ran to the door, pushing a stunned Peter through it before him. Sirius's maniacal cackle followed them all the way down to the Common Room.

_This is going to take more than just a _little_ getting used to._

End.


End file.
